Living In Silence
by PenguinTKD
Summary: What makes Johnny learn American Sign Language


1974

The call came in at 7:42 AM, unknown rescue, Squad 51 and Engine 51 responding.

Johnny grumbling; " I hate unknown rescues" as he gets in the squad.

Roy hands him the address.

"Oh man, this is near the airport! how did we get this run! We're going to hit morning traffic too!".

They finally get to the residence and knock on the door: no answer, Chet starts ringing the doorbell. Inside a light flashes on and off each time the doorbell is pushed.

"LA we need a check on the address" Cap speaks in the handi-talkie. As the crew start to

check the windows and back door.

Marco gives a yell;

"Hey Cap! I see a little kid laying on the floor!".

Cap looks at Vince to break the glass so they can get in.

Inside they find a man and women dressed for work and 3 children ready for school. They are laying in the kitchen, bathroom and hallway. All have pink cheeks and are unconscious.

Johnny looks at Roy "I bet you its Carbon Monoxide poisoning! lets get them outside and get O2 Stat!".

The crew rushes to get them outside and within minutes the whole family is laying out on the front lawn. Cap has the engine crew opening up the windows and checking out the house.

Two of the girls are starting to come around, coughing and waving their hands.

Johnny looks into the face of the youngest girl and smiles his crooked grin "hey there, your alright, your gonna be alright".

Her eyes get big and she starts to take off the mask.

Johnny grabs her hand "No Darling don't take it off its helping you".

"Are you dizzy?

"Gonna throw-up?"

" Its okay honey"

She starts to panic and tries to back away at the same time making guttural sounds.

Johnny is getting frustrated trying to keep her mask on, keeping her calm and getting her vitals.

He glances over at her parents and brother who are masked but still unconscious.

Meanwhile, Roy is dealing with the middle child who is probably 11, she is coming around and looking at him with deep brown eyes.

He smiles and says " Your going to be fine"

She looks at him and then hears her sister.

She starts to take off the mask yelling "I need to help my sister and family".

Roy says in a soothing voice "its okay we are all helping them... leave that to us okay?"

as he starts to get vitals on her but she continues yelling" NO! NO! NO! I have to help them!"

ripping the BP cuff off and jumping up she is kneeling at her sisters side before Roy could stop her. She starts moving her fingers and hands and immediately her sister calms down.

Johnny stops what he is doing and stares at her.

Looking at both of them; "they are all deaf, this is my little sister Katie, as she pats her arm"

Johnny looks over at Roy "okay... umm.. sweetie ..uh can she read lips?.

She was used to that question. she got it all the time, the store, restaurant, even at Doctors appointments .

She shook her head. " Katie isn't very good but my parents and brother Donny can read lips but we all know Sign. I can help you. I can sign for them. My name is Grace and I do it all the ti"

Johnny makes a grab for her as she slumps to the right of her sister.

Her little sister Katie starts kicking and screaming at Johnny.

Johnny yells to Chet for help.

Chet picks up Katie and moves her away from Johnny all the time speaking calmly to her. Not knowing that it wont help.

Grabbing the Bio phone and with frustration in his voice; " Squad 51, ...Rampart how do you read?"

Dixie responds "We read you loud and clear squad 51"

Johnny; "Rampart we have possible Carbon Monoxide poisoning 2 adults and 3 children, the male age 33, female 30, male approximate age 15 are still unconscious are on O2. We have 2 young females approximate ages 7 and 11.

Rampart" ...pausing and taking a deep breath.. " all are deaf except for the middle female 11 who is hearing.

He then looks over to where Chet is holding Katie and sees the look of confusion and fear on the little girls tear streaked silent face.

Cap leans over to Roy who just finished relaying the vitals on the family.

"Roy, did I just...?

Roy nods his head then continues;

"Rampart that's affirmative both ambulances are here, getting ready to transport. Please be advised to have a sign language Interpreter available."

Marcos comes over and says" Cap it was the furnace"

Cap nods in thought "Oh! Thanks Marco" looking around at the scene.

"Roy and Johnny, ride in with the family. Chet will follow with the squad.

LA Engine 51 available."

=========================================================

"Treatment rooms 3,5, and 1" Dixie announces and points as the gurneys are rolled in.

Doctors Early, Morton and Bracket are paged.

Grace is in room 3 with Katie, who is watching all the activity.

Grace came around in the ambulance and she was able to calm her sister down, much to Roys relief!

All three Doctors have convened in the hallway before entering the exam rooms.

" Dixie where is that Interpreter?" Bracket demands.

"Kel he was called, I will send him in as soon as he arrives!"

As Roy and Johnny are picking up supplies they also ask Dixie if the Interpreter had arrived.

With irritation in her voice, "Not you too, He must be stuck in morning traffic" and walks away.

With puzzled looks the guys watch Dixie walk away. Thankfully, the HT comes alive.

Squad 51 are you available?" Roy responds " Squad 51, available".

=========================================================

The parents and oldest boy regain conciseness. They are laying on the gurneys watching the Doctors and nurses hustle about the room.

Grace is wheeled in 25 minutes later and introduces herself to Dr. Bracket who is surprised by her adult manner. She informs him that she can interpret any questions for her parents.*

"The Interpreter has arrived, he is with my sister Katie and Dr. Morton" .

Later that morning...

Bracket and Early meet in the break room.

"Kel, as Dr. Early takes a sip of coffee. "I wish there was a way they could combine smoke alarms to detect Carbon Monoxide".

Dr. Bracket laughs saying "maybe, when we are all flying through the air like in The Jetsons cartoon but not now".

Overhead " paging Drs' Bracket and Early Paging Drs' Bracket and Early"

Dr. Bracket looks at Joe and says " They are playing our song". as he opens the door.

=========================================================

Back at the station house, the engine crew is getting ready for a briefing on a building and Marco is making lunch.

Johnny and Roy roll in a few minutes after the briefing and smell Marcos cooking in the bay. Both grin and their stomachs rumble as they get out of the squad.

Johnny walks in, snaps his fingers and immediately turns around and walks back out.

Chet says "whats up with Johnny"

Roy says "oh its just the run we went on this morning, that Deaf family is really bugging him".

Johnny comes back in and sits down on the couch with a book in his hands. In no time he is making motions with his fingers .

Chet sidles over and takes a peek at what Johnny is studying:

" American sign Language : A Comprehensive Dictionary"

Chet grins,

"Hey Johnny! that should come second nature to you"

Glancing up at Chet with a look of annoyance.

Chet says; with his arms out "well you know... Indian Signs. Your people used them, so it should be pretty easy for you to pick it up that's all I'm saying"

Johnny scowls back and says ."Chet... Chet! I will show you a sign!"

as he flips up his middle finger.

"now get lost!".

Over at the table Cap is talking to Roy in hushed tones. He has a concerned look on his face.

" I know that scene would of been a bad one this morning but they all got out alright and the family is going to recover."

Roy nods as he looks at Johnny. " I know Cap but its not just this run"

Turning and fixing Cap with a look ... "you remember when we delivered that baby? a girl, 8 months ago and then just last week... we rescued that little girl from that apartment fire, she was hiding in the closet?"

Cap nods his head.

Roy continues " well the main factor is that they were all deaf.

In a low voice, "I think its a combination of all those rescues that has got him thinking and when Johnny gets thinking"... Fixing Cap with a look.

Cap looks over to Johnny on the couch absorbed in his book. "Oh man, oh man" Cap says with a worried look.

The guys of "A" shift finished with a house fire and 2 heart attacks and an incident free night.

Next morning Roy and Johnny are waiting for their replacements from" B" shift .

Roy brings his coffee cup to his lips, "So I will see you tomorrow right? Remember, its Chris's Indian guides night"

Johnnys grabbing a doughnut from the middle of the table and takes a huge bite.

"Oh right.. right yeah I will be there!" speaking with his mouth full.

"Good then I suppose you'd like to stay for dinner too?" Roy says with a grin.

Johnny fixes him with a look that says, would I miss Jo Annes cooking?.

Roy says "well I am the one bbqing! so I will see you then".

With that "B" shift walks in and the guys walk out to their cars.

=========================================================

At Indian Guides the next night, Ironically enough, the kids learned how to use Indian signs and signals and that with the use of Signs if one tribe didn't know the language of another tribe they used Signs to communicate, sort of like a universal sign language. Johnny was able to help out a lot that evening and he was in good spirits.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sitting back with a belly full of steak, Gage looks over at Roy and JoAnne " that was mighty fine, yes mighty fine!" as he pats his stomach and stretches.

Roy looks over at his partner of two years and is happy he is happy.

JoAnne brings up the subject of the deaf family, asking how they were doing. Johnny responds, that Dixie told them on their last run that they were to be released as of today.

JoAnne says" I don't know how they can manage, it would be so scary if I was deaf and couldn't communicate. I would of been scared to death!"

Johnny says" oh they were, they were but Grace, now she called the police when she saw her parents on the floor before she collapsed, so she saved her family!"

Then with a serious look on his face. "You know Roy",

Roy looks over at JoAnne with a knowing look in his eye.

Johnny continues deep in thought; "I was thinking, if that was a fire... that would of been a bad scene you know"

Pointing a finger at no one.

"maybe we could or I could rig something up to alert them you know?" Roy; "They still have that program".

Tapping his finger on his temple " umm... Box 15.

Remember, if we have any ideas to improve safety and response."

Roy sits up straighter " Hold on Partner! hooking up the cassette recorder so we have a record of our runs is one thing and yes that was a good idea and all but."

Johnny looks straight at Roy with intensity. "you didn't see the look on that little girls face Roy. I have to do something!".

Looking down at some invisible spot on the table.

"So this is what I was thinking". What if, ...now listen! as his voice starts to get louder, what if we hook up a light, like they had for the doorbell to blink, Snaping his fingers..but.. but faster! like a strobe light", as he stands up "you know like...like in the dance halls. The strobe, its linked to the smoke alarm, yeah... starting to pace, so when it starts to strobe they will know its the smoke alarm going off!".

Johnny stops his pacing and turns to both of them waiting. "Well?"

Roy starts to smile," you just may be on to something!" thinking to himself Roy says " but how? we know what we want it to do but how to make it happen?.

Back at work the guys on" A" shift think the smoke alarm for the deaf is a great idea. So, after all the chores are done and lunch is served, ideas are thrown around. Soon a plan is drawn up and the guys submit it to Cap who in turn fills out the forms and submits them to the Box 15 committee.

Three months later, Cap gets a letter from the committee.

Its a Saturday, so after roll call he reads the letter to everyone before assigning morning duties.

Cap clears his throat; " To Station 51 ...The Idea and plans submitted for the smoke alarm for the deaf and hard of hearing is a great idea.

Which brings a cheer from the guys.

Holding up his hand for quiet he continues, "but unfortunately it will have to remain an idea for now. It would not be feasible at this time for this endeavor, maybe in a few years we will have the technology to accomplish something like this. Thank you for your ideas and keep them coming. Sincerely, Box 15".

Johnny just looks at everyone. " Well, you know what they are really saying don't you? there isn't enough deaf people to make it worth their money".

Tilting his head "I wonder how many lives will be lost before they come up with a smoke detector with a strobe" **

Chet says" well if they are deaf maybe their sense of smell would wake them up? since its heightened and all".

Roy grabs Johnny as he lunges at Chet while Marco and Mike send glaring looks at Chet.

Duties are assigned and everyone goes about their chores.

Later that afternoon" A" shift gets a surprise visit from the Lampe family.

With Grace interpreting for her family she Signs; "Sorry its been a while, we have tried a few times to call through the relay system but each time we were told you were out on a call. So today we took a chance if you were in. We just wanted to come by and say thank you and Katie made peanut butter cookies for the guys. "

Johnny tries out his finger spelling and Signs for the family.

Grace starts giggling.

Johnny is trying to ask the parents if they would like to come in and have some coffee.

Grace, her giggling turning to laughter. " Mr. Gage you just asked them if they wanted to neck, you know... make out?" Johnnys face starts turning red.

Chet says under his breath" smooth move Einstein."

But Graces mom Mrs. Sarah Lampe comes over and finger spells and Signs slowly to Johnny "Thank you for saving my family and yes we would like some coffee thank you".

Johnny gets a huge smile on his face because he was able to read and understand what she said.

As they are sitting around the table enjoying the cookies and drinking coffee. Grace shares a booklet she made for the "A" shift crew. The booklet contained Basic Signs like: Help You Follow Me Stay Where Hurt and the Alphabet. "***

A few days later, Johnny notices in the paper that there is a made for TV movie based on the life of Helen Keller. She became Deaf and Blind called The Miracle Worker. Roy asks them to all come over to his place for a BBQ and to watch it. With much prodding and grumbling the guys of "A" shift come to Roys house. When it gets to the part of Helen saying" Wa Wa" and finger-spelling W-A-T-E-R under the pump there wasn't a dry eye in the house.**** 

Two months later ...

The klaxon sounds at 3:20 AM.

"A" shift rolls out to a house fire. When they get there its fully involved glass is exploding out of the top floors.

The Battalion chief informs them: no survivors.

A women sitting on the curb is crying uncontrollably. Johnny and Roy ask her if she needs help.

Shaking her head she quietly says "no thank you"

then continuing." You know they were a young couple, with a little boy. They had only lived there for a week."

Breaking into fresh tears, "its just a shame that they had to die like that and them being handicapped and all" .

Roy asks her "what do you mean by handicapped"

She turns a tear stained face up to him . "The whole family was deaf".

Johnny overhears that last statement and slowly sinks down on the runner after taking off his helmet, a hurt look crosses his eyes, he mutters: "How many lives, How many lives" .

-  
>2005 <p>

Johnny awakes from a restless sleep to the sound of sirens and the faint smell of smoke and for an instant he wants to run to the squad.

His wife rolls over and pats his arm, saying drowsily" honey its just a dream go back to sleep".

But hes thinking; "no! its a fire and its close!" sitting up and swinging his legs over on the side of the bed he looks out the bedroom window.

Sighing when he see nothing but a moonlit yard and tons of stars. "I guess it was a dream".

He looks at the clock on the night stand; 3:22 am. There is no way he is going to go back to sleep, At least not with the way his heart is pounding. Looking at his wife and knowing he would just toss and turn, he decides to get up and make some coffee.

At 59, he slowly stretches his back out hearing it make the usual cracking noises. With a smile he thinks of his Grandkids, always giggling when he cracks.

He has on his favorite comfy jersey sweats and t shirt. Slipping on a robe he silently closes the door to his bedroom. Padding down the hallway, wiping the sleep from his eyes he grins, one good thing about being retired you can take a nap later in the day.

As the smell of fresh ground coffee fills the room he still has a nagging feeling that something just isn't right. Chet used to call it his Indian in him.

He pours himself a cup, sitting down on the bench by the backdoor. Johnny puts on his boots and jacket and walks outside sipping his coffee.

Outside, he looks up at the stars and turns to look at his house. Sighing, He was blessed. He had his dream home. A three bedroom ranch style house on five acres.

He never would of been able to afford this on his retirement pension. The previous year had been good to not only him but his buddies from Station 51. Remembering back to an idea they had in "74" that had finally come to reality.

He finishes his coffee and heads over to the corral and hears the whinny and stomping of his horses. They seem upset, so he stops and listens to the night.

Then he hears it, a high pitched piercing sound over and over.

A smoke alarm!

He starts walking and then jogging towards the sound, seems like its coming from his new neighbors house.

Patting his jacket pocket for his cell! Damn it! well, to late to turn back now, he can see the older ranch house and there is a weird flashing light going through the whole house along with the high pitched piercing sound.

Talking to himself "What the heck... is that a strobe?";

Breaking out into a run, "this is just like the demonstration for my smoke alarm!. Oh my God! they must all be deaf!" .

He gets to the front porch and picks up a stick and knocks out a pane of glass in the front door.

He reaches in and turns the door knob, His mind is racing!" Why wont it open! Damn! it must be bolted, he reaches in again and up and unbolts the dead bolt.

He is in Finally!

Trying to slow his breathing down, "okay.. okay this house is almost the same lay out as mine" so he races towards the bedrooms.

Smoke has started to form near the ceiling and the walls are crackling, combined with the flashing lights and high pitched noise, its enough to make him disoriented, he grabs a door but its the bathroom instead of one of the bedrooms.

Cursing to himself he heads for the next door.

He almost collides with a teenage boy coming out of his bedroom door.

Signing to the boy, " crawl ground and go front door!".

Following him outside. He signs " STAY!".

How long has it been since he had to use Sign!.

Johnny runs back in and grabs their phone and dials 911. Shouting their address and informing the operator; "there is no sign of fire but the walls are crackling and lots of smoke!" he drops the phone.

Crawling inside the next bedroom he can tell its a girls room, he crawls over to the bed feeling the top of the bed its empty! he turns and sees the closet, he opens the door and feels inside, touching an arm. Picking her up in his arms she starts to thrash around. He grabs her hand and signs into it " its OK its OK fine now" as he runs down the hallway and out onto the yard and night air. He sets her down next to her brother, " STAY!".

Taking big gulps of air into his lungs, he runs back in, dropping to his knees he heads down the hallway and collides with the parents. The parents are both frantic and looking for their kids.

Johnny signs" kids out kids out safe hurry!". Pulling them down to the floor.

Outside the family is reunited and in the distance he is the only one to hear the sirens.

The EMT s on scene are assessing the family and to his surprise one of the EMT s is using Sign!.

The firemen have disabled the smoke alarms so they could all think and see straight! and proceed to put out the fire.

He is sitting on the grass getting deep breaths of air when an EMT comes over to him with O2.

He starts to refuse but she is adamant for him to put the mask on.

She turns to him and says, all business like," the family is being transported to the hospital, you got all of them out, so relax and let us take a look at you okay?"

Johnny tries to say he is fine as best he could with the mask on. Pulling the mask off he says, "I am just going to head back home and get out of your hair."

At that point the EMT fixes him with a look and pushes the mask back on his face.

A police officer steps up and says "I need a statement and then you can go back home. Lets start with your name."

Johnny rubs his eyes and pulling the mask away from his face; "John Gage, coughing.. Retired Captain John Gage from the Los Angeles County fire department."

The officer is taking notes, "Okay, well that explains a lot but how did you know it was a fire? and how did you know they were deaf?"

Johnny responds," like I said I am or was a paramedic so I have heard my share of smoke alarms". I am ..um the inventor of this particular kind of smoke alarm with the strobe attached. It is made especially for the deaf and hard of hearing. I just heard the high pitched noise and followed it"

coughing it and taking a breath of O2," then I saw the flashing lights and when I got close I could smell smoke. I guess I just went into rescue mode" with a shrug and replacing the O2 mask.

The officer looks at him, " this could of been a really bad call if you know what I mean.

Johnny looks back at him, "Oh I know exactly what you mean."

"Well Mr. Gage if I have any more questions I will be in touch".

While he was making his statement, the EMT, trying to get vitals on him, gasps and then takes a really good look at the man she has on O2.

She breaks into a huge smile and Signs, "you probably don't remember me... my name is Grace Lampe and when I was 11 you saved me and my family from CO poisoning! Your the reason I am an EMT. Now, Mr Gage lie back, relax and leave the mask on and stop fussing! you now my patient" she signs with a grin...

7 months later

John Gage is walking with his wife over to their neighbors house for a house warming party. They had to gut the house and start all over from the ground up but the whole family was safe, so thank goodness for homeowners insurance Johnny thought.

This would be the first time he met the family under normal circumstance and he was a little nervous. As he rounded the corner he noticed he was holding his breath.

His wife put her arm around his slim waist and gives his arm a squeeze with her other hand. She smiles up at him "You saved their lives, if anything I bet they are the nervous ones!"

As they approached the front yard they hear blaring music. The music has a strong bass to it.

His wife says "Oh boy talking inside is going to be hard to do"

Johnny just grins then continues talking on the verge of yelling. " I am not sure it matters to most of the people here" as he nods his head toward the group that was dancing and signing away!. Feeling the bass and beat through their bodies. He noticed it wasn't just teenagers that were dancing but folks his age too.

As they make there way to the back yard the parents, Robert Jackson and his wife Yolanda rush over and hug them in a huge bear hug. Johns sees Grace. He motions her over to introduce her to his wife.

When Grace gets over there, both Jackson's are signing so fast! Johnny can't keep up and turns to Grace.

"HELP! "Grace laughs.

"I am catching like every fourth word ."

Grace turns and signs," slow down he miss a lot "

Laughing the Jackson's start again. "Thank you saving us, David, Rebecca lives and for invention Grace told us. But question bothering me?, how you know daughter Blind Deaf?"

Johnny gives them a startled look " I didn't! why do you ask?"

Grace interprets, "Rebecca says you signed into her hand when you picked her up"

Johnny turns to the parents and carefully Signs. " I just signed into her hand because it was dark in the room and she was scared"

David is gently leading a petite girl of 12 towards them, signing into her hands," here is the man that saved you!"

Rebecca turns and takes Johnny's hands and signs, "Thank you for saving my life. Its not enough Thank you".

She gives him a hug and huge smile.

Johnny signs back in her hand "your smile is enough for me!".

The End

* Since Grace is a CODA which means she is a Child of Deaf Adults she can interpret for them and not be certified but in 1974 that would not of been an requirement anyway.

** The first smoke alarm with a strobe for the deaf and hard of hearing was invented in 2004.

*** Now they have a course on Basic Sign and EMS. .edu/students/r/stgar01/

**** I took some liberties with this story line since The Miracle Worker was not shown as a TV movie until 1979.


End file.
